Seven Years (16 page)

“You don’t trust that I can handle this and find your mom?”

“The more help I can get, the better, is all I’m saying, Austin.”

He spun around, arms folded. “I have to take a trip tonight and I want you to come with me.”

“I can’t leave Maze.”

“Denver and the boys got it taken care of. Shifters are protective of kids, even if they aren’t our own. It’s why Prince stopped his car for Maizy and didn’t keep driving. You can trust my pack. They’re older and have their wolves under control. They’ll fight to the death to protect her, if that gives you any comfort.”

And it kind of did. “Why do you want me to go with you?”

He flexed his jaw, staring at me in the mirror. Then his eyes slid down and I knew it was that
heat
word again. Austin didn’t want me in the house with his brothers.

“Okay, so where are we going?”

The “we” in my question satisfied him immensely. “Oklahoma. It’s about a six-hour drive and we’re staying overnight,” he said, looking at his watch. “We should be back tomorrow before dark.”

“What do you have to do?”

“Talk to someone” was all he’d tell me.

The Challenger’s motor purred along I-35 until Austin turned off at the exit and changed direction.
Maizy hadn’t revealed much about her adventure outside of what we already knew. What detailed information could I expect from a girl her age?

I had purchased all kinds of beef jerky from a gas station just outside Gainesville. Austin had merely watched as I piled the individually wrapped sticks on the counter. I’d never really liked jerky very much, but the long car trip was grueling and I was famished.

“Craving?” he asked with a twitch of his lip.

I ignored him, paid the cashier, and stuffed the bag in the back seat.

Austin played a few old songs that brought some forgotten memories to the surface. We laughed and shared stories, finding out little snippets about each other we had never revealed back in the day. When Aerosmith came on, it brought back memories of a camping trip we took to the lake one summer with a group of friends. I was stuffed in a tent with three girlfriends while Wes and his buddies camped closer to the wooded area. In the middle of the night, my friends decided to sneak over and raid their tent. What can I say? We were seventeen. I didn’t go because my favorite Fleetwood Mac slow song had come on my portable radio. I walked to the shore and sat down, watching the moonlight slide over the waves like icing.

I still remember that night so clearly in my head. Feeling the warm summer breeze in my hair and listening to the water lap up on the shore as footsteps approached from behind, competing against the squeals of the girls and complaints of the boys in the distance. Austin had sat beside me that night, wearing his leather coat and denims with a hole in the knee. He didn’t say a word. We just sat together and watched the waves until the song played out.

Of course, he was smoking a cigarette and looking all Joe Cool Badass while I was wearing a ponytail and pink pajama bottoms with strawberry designs. Nothing happened between us. It was just one of those beautiful moments in life that means something for reasons we can’t explain.

Austin had quit smoking since then. You can always tell when you get up close to someone or check out the car ashtray and find loose change instead of cigarette butts. Strangely, he was even cooler now than he had been before. Maybe it’s because back then he was trying hard to
be
somebody, and now he finally
was
that somebody.

“Does this mean I’m not going to age?” I asked, staring out the window as a billboard went by.

I felt his eyes on me in the dark interior of the car. “It slows. I’m guessing you’ll look this way for a while.”

I shifted uncomfortably in the seat and pulled my legs up. After a few scrapes of my fingers through my long hair, I put my feet back on the floor and tried to recline the seat.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “You need to go to the little girl’s room?”

I laughed because he was serious. Then in the quietness of the cab, it just struck me funny and I laughed some more. When I felt him giving me the “what the hell is wrong with you” look, I completely lost it.

I went into Beaker mode.

Austin smiled wide with warm eyes that crinkled around the corners. He chuckled as I let out an exhausted sigh and rested my head against the seat.

“I’ve missed your laugh,” he said.

“Only you, Austin. Only
you
.”

“Wes said it was the very best thing about you.”

I teared up and smiled, curling up on my side to look at him. “Why did he say that?”

Austin shrugged and rolled up his window. “He said it was uniquely you, and he was right. Wes didn’t have plans after school and that’s why he took the job with your dad. But he always knew you were going to be somebody. He also said you made the best chocolate-chip cookies and could bake your ass off.”

“I still can,” I bragged, lightly touching his arm and smiling. Baking sweets had always been a passion—I just never had any opportunities to show off my skills outside of Naya’s parties. I had perfected my cookies down to an art.

“Maybe you should do something with that,” he suggested.

The thought lingered. “Maybe.”

“I called Church and requested that he back off.”

“Why would you do that?”

Austin turned the radio down. “You don’t understand the pack dynamic. Bringing him in only complicates things. He’s going to feel a sense of entitlement if he finds her.”

“It’s not a race,” I reminded him. “It’s not like the winner gets a prize.”

He regarded me with serious eyes. “For some, it is. Anyhow, he’s not backing down. I can’t go above him since he’s the Packmaster. If he finds your mom before we do, it could get very sticky.”

“I can handle sticky. I work in a candy store.”

“You have a lot to learn, Lexi,” he said, patting my leg. His hand remained there for a moment before he put it back on the steering wheel. “I need to teach you some of the rules before you get yourself in deep trouble.”

I glanced outside. “Are we here? That was fast.”

“Detour,” he said, making a right turn. We drove up an old dirt road with only the headlights illuminating our way. “My parents bought some land out here years ago as an investment.”

“Not to be the little black cloud on your picnic, but most horror movies usually begin this way. Couple goes down a dark road into the woods and the next thing you know, a guy with a chainsaw is chasing them down.”

“Only when they start making out,” he said. His eyes searched the dark woods, looking more alert. “You need to let your wolf run. We’re camping here for the night. We’ll head out in the morning to the Packmaster’s house, but this is a safe place where you can shift.”

I got nervous at the suggestion. “And why do I need to do that? You’re not telling me everything, Austin. What’s the worst that could happen if I choose not to?”

“There are some things in life you have to do, and letting your wolf out is one of them. Their spirit grows restless. They pace and get angry. If you don’t let them run once in a while, they’ll force you to shift and you won’t be able to switch back until they’re ready. This is a way of life, Lexi. It’s not a choice.”

“What if I can’t?”

He bellowed a laugh. “Girl, if you can’t figure it out, then class is in session. Every Shifter has to learn how to control their animal and that includes summoning it.”

“Maybe I don’t want to summon it,” I said in a low voice.

“Chicken?”

I wrinkled my mouth. “I hope not. I’d look awful with feathers.”

Austin laughed so loud that he turned his head away and coughed into his shoulder to muffle the sound.

After we turned off the road, we got out and he walked up to a storage shed and unlocked the door. I waved off a mosquito and cupped my elbows as Austin hauled some equipment to a clearing on the left and began assembling a tent.

One
tent.

The jury was still out on whether or not it was a tent or a sombrero, because it was too small to fit the both of us. Once it was set up, he placed an electric lantern inside the flap and held my hand, leading me through the woods to a grassy area.

“Austin, I don’t know about this.”

His grin was nothing less than devastating. “Lexi, I promise you it’s not as bad as all that. I know you feel your wolf pacing in there—I can tell by your restless behavior. We all feel it with our animal. Establish a relationship with her. She wants out, and that means you’ll have to let her take over once in a while so her spirit is happy. You are two halves that make a whole. When she’s hungry, feed her. I once knew a guy who didn’t shift; he was one of those who lived in denial of what he was. He caged a wild animal, Lexi. He became aggressive, and eventually the wolf broke free and he didn’t shift back for a year. What we are isn’t like what you’ve read in books or seen in movies. Most Shifters can’t remember what happens in their animal form, but the animals within us are always aware of what’s happening. They’re the source of our instincts.” He tucked his hands beneath his biceps and lowered his chin, looking down at me. “It’s easier than you think. Just relax and call to her.”

“I don’t know her name,” I countered, kicking the toe of my shoe on the ground.

His smile faded and he stepped forward. “I can
make
you shift, but I’d rather you learn to do it on your own. I thought you were always the girl who wanted to do everything herself, without any help?”

Boy, did he put me in my place. That’s exactly the kind of girl I was. I’d gotten better about it in recent years, but not much. Life kept throwing me in situations where I had to step up to the plate and swing.

And right now, I was up to bat without a clue of how to play the game.

“What if I run off?” I asked.

“Then I’ll track you down,” he replied matter-of-factly.

“Austin, I’m scared.”

He cupped my face with his hands and moonlight glittered in his eyes. “No, you’re not. You’re Alexia Knight; you’re not afraid of anything.”

I studied the dark woods nervously, and a restless shadow paced beneath my skin, making me hop from one foot to the other. I finally shook it off and blew out a hard breath, staring down at my shoes and allowing every muscle to relax. I wasn’t sure how to call my wolf, so I did something quite silly.

In my head, I whistled and said, “Here, girl.”

And then I blacked out.

***

Austin’s breath caught when Lexi shifted, just as it had the first time in her bedroom. Her wolf was
magnificent
.

Silver fur with a snowy-white face, black nose, and the tips of her ears looked like they had been dipped in ink. She was just a little bit bigger than most of the females he’d been around, which was surprising considering how slender Lexi was. But no one could explain the magic behind shifting. He admired her as she pawed the wet grass and lifted her nose, taking in the wild scent of the wilderness for the first time.

She was also showing him every white tooth in her mouth.

“Easy, girl,” he said in a soothing tone. Austin summoned his alpha voice, the one laced with enough power to make the betas submit upon command, regardless if they were in animal or human form. He had to teach her to obey or else she could wind up in serious trouble someday by tangling with the wrong alpha.

Lexi’s wolf lunged and snapped ferociously.

Austin stepped forward, never looking away from her fearless eyes. She hesitated for a moment, appearing uncertain of what he was going to do. Austin knelt down on all fours and looked her dead in the eye, throwing out all the power he could.

“
Submit
,” he commanded in a heavy voice.

Something flashed in her pale brown eyes and her lips uncurled just a fraction. Austin didn’t want to frighten her by shifting, so he waited her out—something he’d done with his own brothers when they formed the pack so everyone knew who was in charge. Surprisingly, Reno was the most obedient and Denver proved to be the most challenging. They’d fought until Austin caught hold of his throat and held down Denver’s wolf. In human form, Denver couldn’t be more opposite than his animal.

That wolf had issues.

“Come here, beautiful.” Words he never thought he’d say out loud to Lexi, but she wouldn’t remember this. He’d always thought she was a captivating creature, but nothing like now. She was once a young girl who wanted the world to see her, who craved love in ways that only young girls could understand. Lexi really looked at the world and noticed it. She was far more stunning now than ever before because of the womanly fire in her gaze, the subtle curve in her hip, and the compassion for others in her heart. She was fiercely protective of her family, and Austin admired her courage through adversity.

It’s what did him in.

The truth of the matter was—Austin had loved Lexi for more years than he could count.

That bright-eyed little girl used to have stars in her eyes when she looked at him. Austin grew up thinking she was human, and most Breeds didn’t associate with humans. His feelings for her began to change when they were teenagers, and by then, it was hard for him
not
to notice her. She was lovely with her long hair and sun-kissed skin. Lexi had an endearing wide smile, but even that didn’t hold a candle to her glowing expression when she went into one of her fits of laughter.